Carpe Noctrum
by Phoenix To Flame
Summary: Where most travelled through the worlds with a serious purpose, their's was to have fun. After all, when you live for a much longer time than the average human, why waste life being all serious?
1. Prelude, To Wake From The Dream

Here's another attempt at writing a multi-chapter story! I figured a lot of my problems came from trying to keep everything matching and continuous, so that each chapter would be obvious in where it fit within the story, sooooo...I'm trying something a little less consistent.

As I get the inspiration, these three will hop between worlds and work on completing their very important mission: to have fun. Thus, not every world will be similar, their 'goal' is simplistic enough to be and _will _be reinterpreted by all three of them for every different world, with the core of the story being that they have chosen to spend the rest of their unlife on playing, like the overgrown children they all are.

To explain quick relationships hinted at to avoid the confusion of my readers, Subaru and Kamui are vampire 'princes' for lack of a better term, but they would not rule a whole world, merely a slice of it. Hokuto is their older sister who left to explore the multiverse a ways before them, and Seishirou is the fledgeling of both Hokuto and Subaru, leaving him more powerful than the average changed vampire, but also more bound, since he has the blood of two members of a pure-blood family.

I should stop babbling before my notes get longer than the story, ne?

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><p>The pulsing strobe lights were disconcerting enough on their own, but adding in the music that throbbed in time with flashes of green, red and blue were enough to make Seishirou question Hokuto's wisdom in choosing a nightclub for their dinner.<br>But Hokuto was already well into the swing of it, and the energy that permeated the outdoor air, her hips swaying in tune with the noise as she attempted to coax Subaru over the threshold. "Come on!" She whined as she pulled on his arm, "It's _easy _to eat here. Most of them are so out of it that they won't even notice three vampires getting a meal."  
>Subaru's eyes flashed blue-stained amber, the lights of the garish sign almost enough to mix the shades of his hungry gaze back to the lovely ethereal green he sported most all of the time, but he still wavered. "Are you <em>sure<em> it's safe, Hokuto-chan?"  
>Hokuto gave another impatient tug at his wrists. "It's <em>fine<em> Subaru! I haven't eaten in a week, Sei-chan hasn't eaten in a week, and I'd be struck dead of shock if you've eaten since the last time we did."  
>Seishirou caught the guilty flash in Subaru's eyes as he looked at him, then he nodded, allowing himself to be gleefully tugged by his sister into and over the doorway.<br>Seishirou overtook them and went down the uneven stairs first, his one eye slowly adjusting to the uncertain, oddly colored blinking lights as the stench of sweaty flesh and less innocent things assailed his strengthened sense of smell. The heavy irregularity of dozens of heartbeats had his fangs throbbing within his mouth as he moved closer to the large gathering of food. Behind him, he heard Subaru's soft hiss and Hokuto's low groan as the same, and probably even more intense hunger and hunter's instinct pounced.  
>Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he let his eye sweep over the room, letting Hokuto ghost past him to melt effortlessly into the crown, vanishing as she blended into the odd mixture with her interesting dress, a style she addressed as 'Elegant Gothic Lolita' and could have actually passed for it were it not for the 'artfully' ripped and mauled fabric of the low cut neckline and tattered hem.<br>Subaru clung to his arm as he caught sight of how many people there were in the room, each with their own different stink and relative off-ness, and Seishirou gave him a brief smile of true affection, brushing a finger against faintly parted lips. "Go eat, Subaru-kun. I would hate for you to collapse from hunger for fear of discovery."  
>Subaru smiled one of those brilliant sunrise smiles, only for him, and let go with a reluctance, to melt away as easily as his sister, even though he still dressed like a vampyric prince, some of the crowd tried to catch him through a haze of sweat and drugs and the mindlessness of the pack.<br>Seishirou stomped firmly on the possessive jealousy at seeing those lustful stares targeted at _his_ vampire prince, reminding himself that Subaru could no more lose his innocent beauty than the sun could stop rising, and that Subaru had chosen _him_ out of all others in the whole multiverse.  
>And also, that it would be slow, but definite murder to deny Subaru food because he wanted to keep that beauty for himself. That was one area where pragmatism would always win over jealousy, since he couldn't feed Subaru himself anymore.<br>The thoughts that enticed him away from eating were interrupted by a stumbling girl who had managed to detach herself from the crowd, her ankles swollen from shoes that were supposed to be 'sexy', but instead just made her look like a lost fledgling bird trying on her parent's fallen feathers. "You're a hot one," she slurred in a mockery of eroticism, "You looking for a good time?"  
>Seishirou was tempted to throw her, her insane shoes and her failed attempts at sexuality to the ground, but the hunger for blood surged up overwhelmingly, and he instead thickened the charm in his voice, his hands going to her shoulders. "As a matter of fact, I was looking for something...tasty." He let the faked implications of those words roll out of his mouth, watched her leap to the obvious conclusion.<br>"I'm pretty tasty, if you know where to put your mouth." She purred in an attempt to be sultry, one hand going to tug at the strip of fabric that barely passed for a top.  
>Seishirou fought the urge to grimace in disgust, and, pulling on her shoulders to keep her from collapsing on him, he bit down on her thin neck, sharp fangs puncturing the skin effortlessly, and sliding into the artery that pulsed life's liquid into his mouth.<br>She moaned loudly as the rush of the bite overwhelmed her, and Seishirou honestly couldn't find the energy to blame her, the first time that Subaru had bit him, he'd almost lost control of his ability to stay quiet because it just felt _that_ good.  
>He pulled away, the hunger still present under the surface of his blank smile, as he sensed the point where her heart stuttered and gasped, leaving her collapsed on the floor in a euphoric heap, and began the search for his next meal, hearing at least three other chaotic, weakened heartbeats from Hokuto and Subaru's own endeavors.<br>He'd left three others flying on the power of his bite before he ran into either of his companions again. Hokuto had the bright flush of the freshly fed filling her cheeks, her hat had vanished and her pixie cut that she and Subaru shared, was mussed, and she was holding a piece of her top that used to cover her left breast to her chest. "I take it some of your dinner got a little bit enthusiastic there, Hokuto-chan?" He asked with a deep tinge of amusement, his voice pitched quiet enough that the ravers around them wouldn't notice, but she would hear easily.  
>She laughed as she attempted to fix her hair back to a semblance of order. "The girl was so enamored that she grabbed hold and <em>rrrrrip<em>!" she mimicked the action with her free hand, still holding the piece of detached cloth up, he suspected more for Subaru's benefit than from any modesty of her own.  
>As if beckoned by his thoughts, Subaru appeared, the amber and slits still in his eyes, and slowly fading. Seishirou saw twin trails of blood that ran down from the corners of his mouth, and that he looked pleased, and sated of his hunger. Then he caught sight of Hokuto and her ruined dress, blushed red that was colored blue by the awful lights, and immediately shrugged off the floor length coat and tossed it to her. Hokuto let the piece of fabric fall to the floor, and pinched the front of the coat together to hide her bared chest as she winked at Subaru.<br>Seishirou caught the young vampire by his waist, playfully capturing him to his charming blush and stammered not-protests. "Ne, Subaru-kun, you left your dinner all over your face."  
>Any and all coherence his male companion possessed was wrecked by Seishirou helpfully doing his part to keep Subaru pretty, cleaning up the spilled drying streaks of blood with his tongue.<br>Hokuto cheered from where she stood, having gotten Subaru's coat arranged to her temporary satisfaction. "Go Sei-chan! No more messy faces for Subaru!"  
>Subaru"s face was bright red, not helped by the strobe lights, and he valiantly tried to hide it in Seishirou's chest, sending an affectionate purr through his heart. And, since Subaru being both embarrassed and happy was such a beautiful thing to see, he lifted the chin of the blushing vampire up. "Subaru-kun?"<br>"W-w-what?" Was the cutely stuttered answer. From where Subaru couldn't see, Hokuto covered a wholy amused grin with his coat, even the smile itself was barely concealed by the thick fabric.  
>"Do you find me sexy?" Subaru's fantastically flustered stammering and vibrant blood rush was almost drowned out by Hokuto's peals of laughter.<br>"Hokuto-chan," he whined, burying his face in his hands where nobody could see how red he could get, "please stop laughing." Seishirou let him free of his arms with minor reluctance, letting his fingers trail down his slender arm lightly, the edges of his charming blush still apparent in the tips of his ears.  
>"Yeah, Sei-chan!" She cheered instead. "Never miss an opportunity to ask the <em>important<em> questions!"  
>Subaru choked in mortification. Seishirou affected a solemn look on his face as he looked at the chortaling female vampire. "How can I help it? Subaru-kun is so beautiful and innocent and kind, how could I <em>not<em> want to ravish him senseless?"  
>Hokuto giggled again as Subaru's green eyes shot up in a mixture of horror and...was that <em>interest<em>? "You're such a lech Sei-chan!"  
>He let a devious smirk cover his face. "I'm not sure I'm the one who's being lecherous here, since Subaru-kun <em>is<em> fifty-four years my elder."  
>Hokuto's riotous laughter followed them through the crowd and up the stairs, Subaru trying very hard to not trip and hurt himself from embarrassment. "You're absolutely right Sei-chan! Subaru's the lecherous one here, seducing innocent young treasure hunters to the ways of blood-sucking and may-december romances!"<br>Subaru practically bolted out of the nightclub, to Hokuto's continued amusement. She ran after him, his coat open and fluttering gaily in her wake as the three of them went towards the park they had arrived in, a week ago in the span of this world's time.  
>Subaru's flight was stopped by Hokuto's soaring leap-and-tackle move, the two of them crashing on the grass and struggling before coming up with Hokuto as the inevitable, obvious winner. "Come on Subaru," she cooed at her little brother, Seishirou coming to a stop next to them. "You know I fully approve of you and Sei-chan."<br>Subaru lifted his head up, squirming until he got his arms and elbows arranged enough under him that he was able to lift up his body to the point where Hokuto straddled him and prevented further escape. "I know, Hokuto-chan," his face flushed again under the street lights. "You take every chance to remind me."  
>Hokuto stood up, obviously considering her job done. "Well then, now we've eaten, it's time for another world. Hopefully one with a better nightlife."<br>Seishirou reached down, took Subaru's slender hands in his, helping him to his feet. "I think a stop in a world where you can replace your dress, Hokuto-chan, might be a good idea, don't you agree Subaru-kun?" Hokuto snorted as she noticed that the front of the coat had come undone from her chasing.  
>The young vampire nodded, carefully not looking at his sister as she fixed the coat again. Seishirou leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I don't regret the day when I found you after you fell out of the sky at all."<br>Hokuto bounded forwards as Subaru stared at him, the stare he was beginning to recognize as Subaru realizing something really important. But whatever it may have been was interrupted by her seizing one of Subaru's hands and one of Seishirou's. "Let's go, off to Piffle World!"  
>"We can hope for that, Hokuto-chan, but we can't pick which world we end up in." Subaru reminded her quietly.<br>Hokuto stuck her tongue out at him playfully, then stared intently at the space between his and Seishirou's hands.  
>Blushing again, he was going to run out all of his food at this rate, Subaru reached out his hand to Seishirou, and he took it gently, enfolding Subaru's fingers within his own. Then, they all shut their eyes.<br>The low, familiar chant that the vampire siblings used to open the doors between dimensions resounded through the park, their fingers tightening around his own. Hokuto's mind-images of pools of water, and stars replaced blackness and the faint pink of streetlights through skin. Subaru's hall of mirrors spun in, circling them as every piece of glass reflected a different world.  
>As the world twisted away beneath his feet, Seishirou saw his own storm of cherry blossoms floating lazily through the air, filling the mindpath with their sweet scent. Then the gateway opened and all three parts of them fell away.<br>To the unknowing viewer, he would have only seen three young people on the cusp of adulthood, shivering and dissolving into _sakura_...


	2. Tremere, 1, Into the Pages of the Dark

Look guys, plot! Not a lot though, this is still for fun. And you should expect a new one not too long from now, for it was way too much fun to stop writing, although the next chapter is still under production.

Also, I've decided that I'm going to switch through the characters with each chapter, so one is all Seishirou, one is all Hokuto, one is all Subaru, then back to Seishirou.

And I'm winging both the vampirism traits and the world traveling abilities. After all, confining myself solely to logic would not be fun.

So welcome to our first true world, the world of Tremere!

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><p>The best part of world traveling, in Hokuto's opinion, besides <em>seeing <em>all the different worlds, of course, was how many interesting landings she could made. The best one she'd had so far was where she managed to land on top of herself, one of two counterparts she'd even seen during her entire adventure. That Hokuto had agreed with her, and it was fun to see herself and how she was different in that world.

This one was pretty funny, if just for the differences in landing platform. She landed on the ground, no problem, although the coat fell open again. Seishirou alighted 'gracefully' on a lit streetlamp, if gracefully could be categorized as almost falling off and pretending vainly that no one had seen, and that Subaru had landed at the top of the tallest tree in the area.

She could hear him, laughing. That was nice, he needed to find more amusement in the failings of the day, not just things like being mobbed by birds.

Seishirou was looking around, all confused till he pinpointed where Subaru had landed. "Does this happen often to you, Subaru-kun?" he called up.

"No, usually _I'm_ the one who lands just fine!" her brother called back.

Hokuto couldn't resist the opportunity to play with her chick. "I've seen better landings from cats Sei-chan!"

Seishirou, of course, took the chance to show off by jumping to the next one down the street. "Cats don't get the privilege of standing on streetlights." he said smugly.

Hokuto huffed. "You want to race, you're on!"

Subaru laughed again. "And where would you two be racing to?" The branches of his tree rustled noisily as he continued to climb down.

She shrugged. "I don't know, till we find something interesting. Like another nightclub."

"Or we could always find a dress shop, liberate something to replace your dress Hokuto-chan." her chick added smugly.

Subaru groaned in response. "Why is the solution always stealing?" He finally managed to disentangle himself from the tree and walked to Seishirou's light pole, standing under it.

She deliberately let her coat fall open as she walked over to him. "Do you have money Subaru?" she asked, leaning in his face. She noted with amusement that he couldn't seem to decide which way to look. "Or services to pay in exchange for clothing?"

Seishirou jumped down from the pole, looking vaguely disgruntled. "We are not selling his 'services' Hokuto-chan."

"Of course not," she agreed. "I'm not selling my baby brother to anyone, and I wouldn't sell my chick either. I was just putting it out there as a reason for why stealing is preferable."

Subaru hid his face in his hands. "Hokuto-chan..."

Seishirou _looked_ at her. "Your _chick_?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Of course. Me and Subaru changed you, that means you're our chick, our fledgling." And to add injury to insult, she reached up to pat him on the head.

He still looked slightly offended, the reason why revealed in his next words. "Why do you use bird terms?"

Hokuto shrugged. "I don't know. It's part of our culture I guess." Then, bored with standing around bantering, not that it was _boring_, but she wanted something else to do, she started marching off down the street, not even bothering with using the coat.

She heard Seishirou whispering to Subaru and the quieter sounds of their footsteps as they followed her. She could have eavesdropped very easily, but instead focused on looking at the buildings on the other side of the street.

Grocery store.

Closed.

Pet store.

Closed, and good thing or they'd never get Subaru back out.

Clothing store.

Closed.

Streetlight.

Bright.

And the first other person they'd seen in this world standing on the other side. In retrospect, she thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to walk around with her chest on blatant display, but the young man on the other side had already seen.

And blushed, turning away awkwardly.

Well, at least that was something she knew would to deal with, after all her years with Subaru and his overblown sense of modesty. "Hello there!" she called across the street, pulling her coat shut to allow the boy to not be distracted.

He glanced both ways, then sprinted across the street, face still pink in the streetlights. "Are you alright miss?" He asked, carefully avoiding looking directly at her. "Y-your dress it's-"

Subaru and Seishirou stopped right behind her, both of them silent as the shadows, staring at him. Hokuto hissed at them under her breath, too subtle for human ears to understand, _"Don't screw this up." _Then she smiled at the boy, watching his pink flush grow to red. "I'm afraid we're new to town, and don't have a place to stay. And I caught my dress on a bramble bush. Do you think you know somewhere where I could replace my dress so I'm not a walking curiosity?"

Not that she _minded_ being a walking curiosity, but it was more prudent to not be quite that mismatched. And one could qualify dinner as a bramble bush, since they tended to have the same effect on some of her clothes.

The boy nodded quickly. "My sister has some clothes that should fit you! If-if you three don't have anywhere to stay, you could stay with me and my sister."

She looked back at the other vampires for their opinion. Subaru smiled at her, before turning an odd gaze on the boy. Usually one that meant that he recognized the person. Seishirou carefully showed no actual expression, but seemed to have no objection.

That was good enough for her. "Thank you! That would be very nice of you." She smiled at him again, and he blushed furiously.

If it weren't for the fact that she had no idea how her usual volume of laughter would be taken in a neighborhood where all the stores were closed suspiciously early, she would have cackled for quite a while at meeting Subaru's blond copy.

Except he obviously wasn't Subaru, and that reminded her. "My name's Hokuto. The two behind me are my brother Subaru and his boyfriend Seishirou."

She heard Subaru groan in defeat and Seishirou's low chuckle. _"Well how am I supposed to define it otherwise?" _she whispered to her blushing brother. _"You know that's_ exactly _what the two of you are."_

Seishirou had picked up on the tricks of talking without making enough noise for humans to hear quite quickly. _"It's easier to court lovely vampires when they don't turn impossibly red and shy at the slightest hint of affection."_

Subaru groaned slightly louder and hid his face in Seishirou's shoulder, which didn't help his case at all. Although he _had _stopped denying it recently. "What's your name?" she asked the boy who had been quite patient with their habits of apparently staring at each other, but not stopping so they could talk proper.

"I'm Kishuu Daisuke." he answered quietly, leading them down a side street. "And we'll be at my house in about two blocks, so you can change your clothes at least."

Subaru's soft hiss of triumph did not go unnoticed. Hokuto glared at him, but let it go for the moment as they crossed another street with Daisuke looking about furtively. "Why are you being so cautious? I can't hear anything coming." She asked the boy when he shied away from a patch of darkness.

"It's already too risky to be outside. If I hadn't been late leaving my study group, I wouldn't be out now." he said, stopping at tall steel gates and wrapping his hands around the bars to pull it open. "You see, _they_ come out at night."

Hokuto started to say "What comes out?" but she hadn't gotten more than the first sound out before a wailing howl shattered the silence, somewhere between a grieving cry and a sobbing laugh.

Daisuke jumped in fright and hurriedly gestured them through the gates. "They can't touch steel without being killed, but there isn't enough to make it safe to wander in the dark. We need to get inside."

She saw that the lights in the house were on, and that the windows were also barred with steel. Daisuke practically ran up the stairs as another eerie howl bit through the darkness. He fumbled for the keys in his pocket, and dropped them onto the ground right as the door swung open anyway, to reveal a tall woman with long black hair and a worried look on her face. "What took you so long Daisuke? Haven't I told you _don't_-oh."

Subaru and his lovely skills of diplomacy took over. "I'm sorry Kishuu-san," guessing at her last name from Daisuke's. "I'm afraid me and my companions are new to this place, and he found us and was trying to bring us someplace safe." He bowed in deference, which his rank was _not _supposed to let him do, but didn't ever _stop_ him. "And I will say, the quality of your wards is very fine."

She gaped at them for a second, then made up her mind. "Come in then, but don't make a lot of noise. I don't want to draw more attention to this house than we already have. Nobody should be out after sunset."

Hokuto took the lead again, Subaru taking the time to pick up Daisuke's keys from the floor before walking in, and Seishirou scanning over the area with his one eye. The woman cast a furtive glance outside as they flooded in, then slammed the door shut with perhaps more force than necessary.

Hokuto let go of the front of her coat again to shake the tension out of her fingers and it promptly fell open. Subaru and Daisuke averted their eyes again, but Daisuke's blushing seemed more innocent than Subaru's. She snorted. "It's just my chest Subaru, it isn't doing anything to you.

_"Says you." _he whispered at her to Seishirou's low chuckle.

She braced her hands on her hips to lean in and lecture him, but was stopped by a slender hand on her shoulder. The woman looked a little concerned. "What happened to your dress josee-san?"

"It's Hokuto, no san needed, and I...tore it on a bush. By accident." she added when their hostess didn't look convinced.

"Well, Hokuto-san, if you would like something more decent to wear, you may borrow something of mine till you have the chance to go shopping." She turned towards a door out of the entryway. "Daisuke, make sure our guests are comfortable." she directed as she walked out of the room, no gesture needed for the obvious fact that Hokuto was supposed to be following.

Subaru seemed reluctant to leave her alone in a strange world, but Hokuto put an end to that with a hiss of _"We're vampires silly. And we may have just had dinner, but I can always eat more if they turn out to be evil fiends."_

Seishirou laughed under his breath as they vanished into a different room at Daisuke's beckoning, and Hokuto followed the other woman.

"What's your name, hostess-san?" She asked to break the silence again as she was led into a bedroom, with plain homely colors and plain useful furniture. It was all fine if you didn't want to draw attention, but Hokuto couldn't understand why someone would want to only have black and white and brown in their room.

"I am Kishuu Arashi, and you don't have to be so quiet." the woman answered, black hair swaying around her hips as she opened up the dresser drawer. "I know that keeping a loud person quite is about as kind as making me show emotion."

Hokuto giggled at the comment. "Well Arashi-chan, I think I like you!" she declared.

The woman lifted a thin black eyebrow at her as she pulled out a plain white shirt. "Are you wearing a bra underneath your dress, or was it built into the fabric?" She tossed the short at Hokuto with deft precision.

She caught it just as easily. "Neither. I was running around in goth loli, but it got a bit holey before tearing." She caught the long black skirt that Arashi threw her way as well.

"That can't be comfortable to go world-hopping in." the woman deadpanned. "I'm afraid you'll have to borrow one of mine if you want to wear the shirt."

Hokuto's brain took a second to catch on. "How did you know I'm a dimension traveler?" she asked, setting the clothes down on the bed. Oh, wait. "Oops."

Arashi smiled at her, amused, even though the emotion was subdued compared to how Hokuto would have shown it. "I've met another world-traveler before. He was an...interesting character." She shut the drawers and politely turned away, although Hokuto didn't care. "I was six at the time, and he was one of the first people to explain something so impossible in a way that made sense without being condescending." Hokuto carefully removed Subaru's coat, placing it on the bed as well before practically ripping the ruined dress off, leaving her standing in lacy petticoats and stockings before messing with the clothes Arashi loaned her. "There hasn't been another that I've seen till you and your companions."

Hokuto pulled the shirt over her head with a groan at it's simplicity. "And how could you tell with us?" she asked, scowling at the clothing. Beneath her, she heard Subaru's sweet laughter and conceded that this family was really quite nice for all that had happened.

Arashi helped her pull the skirt even in the back, even though she could have gotten it herself. "As your brother, and there's no way he can not be related to you when you look like male and female versions of the same person, pointed out, I can create wards. And dimension travelers have a different feel to them. They don't trigger my wards because my wards only react to that of this world."

Hokuto left the dress lying in a heap on the floor, but rescued Subaru's coat as Arashi led them out of her room. "Also, only someone who's never been in this world wouldn't have been concerned at being out when the Nasgreban stalk the night."

She heard Seishirou refusing an offer of something to drink, and Subaru politely turning down the same offer. "Nasgreban?" she asked, turning the word over in her mind. She knew five different languages, and none of them had that word.

"Shadow stalkers." Arashi turned into what was obviously a living room, painted a quiet beige that went well with the creamy couch that Subaru had curled up on. "They live in the darkness itself and devour everything that wanders into their territory. We can drive them back with lights and steel, but we still should not be out once the sun goes down."

Hokuto saw that Seishirou had taken up a sentinel's position, right behind Subaru and the couch, and snorted at him, sinking into one of the matching chairs. "I see you're hard at work doing nothing Sei-chan."

"I see you're wearing clothes that are extrodinarily subdued Hokuto-chan." her chick retorted with absolutely no malice in his tone. Subaru looked up at him with a warm expression that made Hokuto very happy to see on his face. Daisuke looked at them in confusion for a minute before at Arashi, seemingly for a cue.

"Why don't you see if you can find some extra blankets for them to sleep on if you want them to stay here?" the woman deadpanned.

Daisuke nodded, looked over at Hokuto again before charging off. Arashi sat on the other chair, glanced at Seishirou and his determined guardian state and seemed to shrug without movement. "You can stay with us till you are ready to travel to another world, provided that you aren't a drain on my estate and don't stay _too_ long."

Hokuto took over where Subaru would have replied, since he didn't seem to know how to reply. "It usually takes about a week for us to be recovered enough to go to another world, and we have to wait for the gates to open."

When Arashi appeared bemused, she hastened to explain. "The way that we travel is by a gate of sorts, a point in time where two worlds intersect. It means that we don't have to use up so much of our energy to travel, but there's no way to predict when the gates will open, and we'll only know when one does."

The woman appeared to understand what she meant, and stood up again. "Are you three hungry? Is there something I need to provide?"

Seishirou took over. "We ate quite recently, so we are fine. However, I think Hokuto-chan would like to know where the nearest unusual clothing store is so we can go there tomorrow." She glared at him. It was easier to get what she wanted when _she _was doing the negotiating.

Arashi was entirely unfazed by them, "I will show you tomorrow." A loud sound of something heavy falling followed by a yelp and a curse from Daisuke drew her out of the room.

"She knows we're not from this world?" Subaru immediately asked her as Seishirou finally relaxed his guard, moving to sit next to Subaru on the couch.

"She's seen another world traveler before." she answered. "Also, there's some sort of creature here called a Nasgreban, that is active at night. Which means there is _no_ nightlife!" she finished with a whine.

"Ah yes, this is a horrible thing indeed. What will we do without it?" Seishirou retorted. "I'm sure they have similar things that happen during the day."

She scowled at her chick. "What's with you Sei-chan? You're being all bitchy."

Seishirou frowned. "There's something really wrong with this world. I don't want to be here very long."

She opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by another thump and curse, followed by Daisuke dragging a wooden twin box spring into the room. "I've still got to get the mattress." he wheezed, as Arashi came back in as well, holding two comforters.

Subaru stood up to take the blankets. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking with concern at Daisuke. "Are you alright Daisuke-san?"

"I'm fine." the boy gasped, bracing his hands on his legs and bending over.. "I just smacked my chest into the box spring. But I need to go get the mattress!" he exclaimed, springing back to his feet.

Arashi looked like she would add a lump to his head as well as the pain in his chest if he continued. Seishirou stood gracefully from the couch. "Subaru-kun and I can get the mattress, don't trouble yourself."

"Up the stairs and two doors to the left, the mattress leaning on the wall." Daisuke added as they left the room. Arashi did smack him on the head at that. "Ow! Onee-san!"

"I've told you don't move the mattress without my help. This always happens." the woman reprimanded him, and he looked ashamed at that. She lightened up a little. "I know you want to help out, but you shouldn't carry the box spring by yourself."

Hokuto was pretty sure the way he looked up at her, all eyes and pouting lips was an expression of petulance. "You didn't stop me when I had it on the stairs."

"You already had it most of the way there. I would have been in the way." Arashi answered and her tone brooked no argument.

Daisuke sighed. "Sorry onee-san."

He looked downcast, and Hokuto couldn't help but want him to feel better. "It was really nice for you to try. Can you show me where I can find a pillow?"

Arashi looked vaguely grateful, and Daisuke lit up. "Yes I can! If you'll come with me Hokuto-san." he gestured with one hand, the other holding onto the space where his sister had hit him.

The room where the 'spare' pillows were was the same one where Seishirou and Subaru were. Subaru was attempting to steady the mattress as Seishirou guided them out of the doorway. It wouldn't be heavy for them, but she wouldn't be surprised if it were as awkward as anything.

"We'll...just wait for them to move...I guess." Daisuke was gaping as the two of them rounded the corner and hauled it down, Seishirou doing his level best to steal the rest of the mattress from Subaru's grasp without tripping him.

Hokuto snorted. "Show off." she said to the young vampire. Seishirou pointedly did not look at her, but Subaru laughed under his breath as he struggled with keeping his hold on the mattress.

Daisuke stared after them as they carried it, then appeared to pull himself together. "I have some pillows in here, if you want." he waved his arm awkwardly in the direction of the room.

Hokuto walked in, saw an empty bedstand in the corner, where it looked like the box spring and mattress had been taken from, and sheets neatly folded in the corner with two pillows stacked on top of them. "This is where onee-san's boyfriend used to stay when he came over to see her, but now they just share a bed." Daisuke blushed again, and Hokuto suspected that he had walked in on them using the bed for something other than napping.

She picked up the two pillows. They were well used, but sturdy. "These'll be perfect. Thank you Daisuke-san."

He looked very flattered, and held the door for her as she left, turning off the light before leaving himself to follow her rather like a duckling.

They were intercepted by Arashi. "Your companions are attempting to figure out if they can both fit on the couch, Hokuto-san." she informed them dryly. "And we are going to leave them alone now Daisuke."

The boy looked like he wanted to argue, but shut his mouth when the woman stared at him, choosing instead to bow to her. "Goodnight Hokuto-san. Sleep well."

Then he practically bolted up the stairs. Arashi locked eyes with Hokuto, shrugged and went upstairs too, opting for the route of lack of vocalization.

Hokuto shook her head and bounded down the stairs just in time to see a blushing Subaru chuck a pillow at Seishirou, probably in an attempt to make him stop laughing. "You can use an actual pillow! Not my lap!" her brother cried in flustered dismay as Seishirou discarded the pillow.

"Oh-hoh! Sei-chan!" she exclaimed as she tossed her own pillows onto the assembled bed in the middle of the living room. "Making sure you're comfortable for the night, neh?"

"Of course." he purred, sinking into the couch that had to be really comfortable if both he and Subaru were that enamoured with it. "Subaru-kun's lap is indeed a lovely pillow. But he seems to be too embarrassed to share it with me tonight."

She bounced onto the bed, perched on all fours to look at her younger brother, who was trying very hard to avoid eye contact. "Why so shy Subaru? It's not like he's doing anything _sexual_ to you."

Subaru choked in mortification, and Hokuto realized the problem was a bit more than embarrassment on his part. Then she laughed. Loudly. "Hokuto-chan!" he cried. "Please stop it!"

Seishirou appeared to catch onto what the actual problem was as well and threw one of the two comforters at Hokuto's head, not out of anger or even play, but to give her something to do and control herself. She was proud of her chick, sometimes he was downright smart. "Sorry Subaru-kun, I don't want to actually hurt you." Score another point for her chick and his diplomacy skills!

Subaru was still not meeting their eyes, but his blush had somewhat cooled. "It's alright Seishirou-san." he said quietly, "I can sleep on the floor if there isn't enough room on the couch."

Seishirou had one of those completely unfathomable looks to anyone who didn't know how to read him on his face. "There's enough room."

Hokuto resisted the temptation to cheer loudly, since that probably would have destroyed the quiet balance between them. But she was ecstatic nevertheless.

In the quiet of the house with the owners already in bed and them not talking, she heard the sobbing cackle that was probably one of the Nasgreban out hunting. It sounded like someone who had lost so much as to go insane from the pain. She shuddered.

Subaru appeared to be composed again, reaching over to pull on the lamp rope till the light went out.

She saw the two of them working together to curl up together on the couch in the faint light that came in from the barred windows, heard the whispers meant only for each other and smiled at them before lying down under the comforter.

Though vampires traditionally did not need to sleep often, she liked to for the joy of waking up.

Hokuto suspected it was the same for Seishirou and Subaru.

* * *

><p>Until next time!<p> 


	3. Tremere, 2, Inking in the Colors

I know I said not till Tuesday, but apparently I'm incapable of resisting the temptation to upload this. And send my word count over 10,000. I'm so geeked!

Next chapter will be Seishirou's, and will be up once we decide which is more important, his fetishes or my plot.

And apologies to everyone, if anyone, who's been expecting something quite innocent and sugary, this fanfiction is turning out to be quite naughty in hindsight. This is probably inevitable when you have these three together. I will keep everything suitable for a T rating, but there's going to be a lot of silliness, and flirting, and hand obsessions.

Because Seishirou rules my brain like that.

* * *

><p>The soft footsteps across carpet woke Subaru from his dreaming, to find pale, early morning sunlight streaming across Hokuto, curled up into her usual impossible tight ball.<p>

Seishirou was lying on the couch behind him, squashed into the cushions. Subaru would have been concerned about falling off, but his tightly wrapped arms prevented that. Prevented much that was both comfortable and uncomfortable. Like breathing.

Hokuto moaned in her sleep, tried to curl up smaller, hide under the blankets. Subaru was tempted to do the same, but the very light sound of footsteps upstairs told him it was probably time to get up.

"Seishirou-san." he whispered to the sleeping man.

Seishirou made a very displeased noise into the back of his neck, and Subaru blushed. "Seishirou-san, I would like to get up."

He was pretty sure that if his fledgling squeezed any tighter, he would split in two. "Seishirou-san. Please let go."

No response of any kind.

"_Seishirou-san_."

The man grumbled, let go slowly. When Subaru stood up, he promptly rolled into the minuscule space that Subaru had be occupying. It was actually pretty cute, if one could use the word cute in conjecture with his fledgling.

Hokuto had left his coat lying on the chair, and he picked it up as he walked slowly into the next room off the hallway, to explore in daylight.

The kitchenette was clearly not meant for more than two people, or three in a pinch to use, and the only window was both high up and barred. Outside, he saw rose bushes around a darker metal then the steel on the windows, probably iron. The flowers weren't in bloom, but he could see the first swell of buds on the stems. So, mid-spring or so, since roses usually bloomed in the early summer.

There were enough buds on the bushes that he bet it smelled heavenly when they were all flowering.

"You're up early Subaru-san." Arashi greeted him in a whisper from behind.

He turned around, saw that she was less than put together yet, but he'd seen worse from Hokuto and Kotori in the beginnings of the day, and decided not to say anything. "I wake earlier than Seishirou-san ever wants to, or Hokuto-chan ever _does._ Good morning to you, Arashi-san."

"And good morning to you two, since we are talking so politely." she said with no change in her tone. She walked over to the small refrigerator. "Would you like something to eat? I can't cook as well as Sorata, but I'm not incompetent."

He shook his head. "We don't subside on regular food, and we don't need to feed as often. We'll be fine for a week or so."

The door shut with a smacking sound like saliva-covered lips. "'Don't subside on regular food.'" she stared at him and Subaru suddenly felt like he was under interrogation. "What do you eat then, flowers? Shadows? Blood?"

She'd nailed their source of food on the third guess, but he managed to dodge the question, he hoped. "We live off of liquids, our bodies aren't built to digest solids. So if you wanted, you could just give us water." _'And we could sneak out sometime and get the food we need from blood about once a week then.' _he thought guiltily. He really didn't like lying to people as kind as Arashi and Daisuke, but there really wasn't anything stupider he could do than revealing his true nature.

He and Kamui had gotten lucky with Yuuko-san's quartet.

Arashi didn't look satisfied, but she let it drop. "I'm going to warn you now, since he'll undoubtedly completely throw you and your companions for a whirl, but my boyfriend is coming over today, and probably won't be leaving for a while. He's brash, and loud, and says unnecessary things, and has no manners most all of the time, but he means well."

"He sounds just like my sister." Subaru smiled. "I think she'll be happy to find someone on the same wavelength as her."

In the other room, Seishirou woke up properly, he could tell by the way that he shifted on the leather covering of the couch, and by the way he talked to himself, so subtly that he was pretty sure that Seishirou didn't know that he did it.

"Is one of your group awake?" Arashi wanted to know, dumping a large amount of orange juice into a glass heedlessly so that it splashed in opaque puddles on the small counter.

Subaru nodded. "Seishirou-san is."

Arashi drank almost half the glass the first time she brought it to her mouth, then looked more composed, as if it were liquid instant stimulates instead of juice. "I'm going to get Daisuke up. He can show you three around the town, help your sister find what she needs. But please moderate what he wants to buy for her, we are not that affluent."

Subaru was pretty sure his smile was more of a smirk. "I'll make sure that there's no issue along those lines. If you'd give me an estimated sum we shouldn't go over...?" _'Of course, Hokuto-chan would probably be able to either seduce or trick any average storekeeper into just giving her the clothes. Or Seishirou-san would probably be able to scare them into it.'_

Arashi named a figure, one that would have seemed tiny back at home in Malkav, but was probably pretty lenient for their situation, then walked out of the kitchen with all the noise of silence for human ears, but was a normal walking pace for his kind.

He walked into the living room to see Seishirou lying on the couch still, but on his back and with his eyes open. Hokuto had uncurled, but was still obviously asleep, and with an expression that said that she planned to stay that way.

Seishirou turned his head, to see him. Subaru felt a pang of pain and guilt at seeing the glass eye fix on where Seishirou knew he was, yet could not see him. He walked over, sat on the bare inches of space on the couch. _"Good morning Seishirou-san." _he whispered.

Seishirou wrapped an arm around his waist, tried to pull him down to lie on his chest. Subaru acquiesced, resting his cheek on the hollow of his collerbone. _"Good morning Subaru-kun. Were you talking to our hostess?"_

_"Yes." _it was really quite nice to lie like this, even if it made his side ache from being bent over rather awkwardly. _"She says that she'll get Daisuke-san out of bed, and he'll show us around town. Also that she has a guest coming over for some unknown amount of time. He's apparently much like Hokuto-chan."_

Seishirou chuckled lowly and Hokuto shifted in bed, one of the pillows she'd wanted so much dropping to the floor. _"That should be an interesting adventure. Which one do you think will be exhausted first?"_

_"The guest of course, Hokuto-chan _is_ a vampire." _he replied to another of Seishirou's chest-vibrating laughs. _"You've never actually managed to exhaust a vampire."_

_"That statement can be taken several different ways, Subaru-kun." _Seishirou snorted, and Subaru felt heat in his cheeks again. That was starting to get _really_ annoying.

_"You know what I meant."_

_"I did. But it's great fun to tease you. You react so well."_

Subaru sighed in defeat. _"Seishirou-san, my side really hurts. Let me sit back up?"_

Seishirou let go, and rolled onto his side so he and Subaru were facing the same way as he sat up. _"Thank you."_

Hokuto rolled over and off the mattress with a loud thump, waking and shooting to her feet with her claws out before realizing that there was absolutely no danger. Her hair stood out in several different directions and her clothes were quite mussed from tossing about her mattress all night.

She pointed one extended claw at them. "No laughing. I'm sure that you both rolled off several times from sharing a couch that isn't big enough for that."

Indeed, Seishirou was laughing under his breath. "In order for me to roll off the couch, I would have had to crush Subaru-kun. Could you see me doing that, especially if my only reward was to fall on the floor."

Hokuto's eyes flashed golden, but she retracted her claws as they all heard the sounds of movement upstairs. "Watch it, o chick of mine. I will know what you do, and that is how it works. Also that's how it works because I can see."

Subaru stared at her. "No heart-reading Hokuto-chan. Not without a good reason."

She seemed to notice that her hair was out of place and started to try and smooth it out. "I thought that was mind-reading, and that was because you are _really_ good at learning things you didn't really want to know. Heart-reading is completely different. It also has nothing to do with knowing whether or not Sei-chan falls off the bed in his sleep." She dropped her voice to a fake whisper. "Besides Subaru, you'd tell me anyway, right?"

Seishirou apparently decided this was the perfect time to steal one of Subaru's hands, pulling it to his face. "Why would he when I can entice him _not_ to just as easily?"

Hokuto stared for a second, then burst out laughing. "You've got me there Sei-chan! You're becoming wise to sparring with me, I'll have to step up my game!"

Subaru decided he really didn't want to know, also that Seishirou's face on the back of his hand was sending tingly waves up his arm that were not very unpleasant.

Daisuke, he was pretty sure it was Daisuke, since Arashi seemed to move about as quietly as it was possible for a human to move without learning how to be truly silent, made the floor groan loudly as he ran overhead. A moment later, Arashi, looking much more put together than she had been when he'd seen her before poked her head in. "If you three are ready to be up, then be warned. Daisuke is feeling _unusually_ energetic this morning and will probably drag you all out as soon as he possibly can. I've told him that he has to eat, and properly first, but I don't know how much that will delay him." Then she was gone again.

Again the ceiling thumped at them.

Hokuto laughed. "I guess we're getting a grand tour this morning!" Then she noticed the state of her clothes. "Oh _fuck._"

"Hokuto-chan!" Subaru cried out.

She made a face at him. "I know, I know, 'don't swear so loudly in other people's houses.' I have the power of the curse word and I will use it when necessary. And _this_-" she gestured to her outfit in general- "merits swearing in my opinion."

Subaru buried his face in his hands as she began to tug at the skirt to try and pull out some of the wrinkles. Whether or not she was successful was entirely in the viewer's eye, and hers was not favorable in merit of her attempts.

"Daisuke, they aren't going to vanish if it takes you five minutes instead of fifty-eight seconds to sit down and eat." Arashi's voice floated from the kitchen with a slightly terse edge.

Seishirou sat up, sliding around Subaru to get up. "I suspect we are in for a day of exploration and narration, don't you?"

Hokuto snorted as she shook out the plain black skirt, then pulled it up just enough for the froth of lace that had previously been under her dress to peek out. It was very subdued and calm for Hokuto, but not a _bad_ look by any means. "If exploration means I can find something more interesting to wear, I'm all for it!"

She apparently didn't agree with his unvoiced opinion.

"I'll be back later onee-san!" Daisuke said from the other room, then appeared in the doorway of the living room. Subaru saw him look first at Seishirou, standing tall and proud, himself perched on the edge of the comfortable couch and then Hokuto with her back turned, still struggling to achieve the effect that she wanted in her temporary outfit. "Ahh, good morning." he said uncertainly.

Hokuto whipped around to face him. "Good morning Daisuke-chan!" she exclaimed, all struggles with her clothes thrown aside in favor of cheer.

He blushed, and Subaru felt a pang of an uglier feeling towards him, that he quickly squashed on, because he couldn't control how people felt about his dear sister.

The part that felt more off about the jealousy, was that it was the same as whenever someone showed interest in his fledgling. Bitter and possessive.

"If you three are ready, we can leave to go find a change of clothes for you all, and see the town." the boy invited shyly. "Would you like that?"

He suppressed another stab of jealousy as Hokuto sprang forwards to link her arm in his, leaving him looking both completely trampled and flattered. "Let's go then!"

She vanished from the living room in a twirl of lace, high stockings, black skirts and Daisuke.

Seishirou touched his cheek softly. "Nobody's enough to tie down your sister other than us." his smile was somewhere between joking, teasing and honest. "I don't mind sharing you with your sister, and that's it."

Subaru smiled up at him. "Thank you Seishirou-san. Now then, I've been put in charge of making sure Hokuto-chan and Daisuke-san don't spend over what Arashi-san said to."

Seishirou snorted. "That doesn't surprise me as much as it should. After all, you are the one who gets everyone to trust you on first sight." he dropped his hand to Subaru's, captured it in his grasp. "Shall we head out, o prince of Malkav?"

Subaru laughed at the overly formal manner of speaking Seishirou affected. "Yes, we shall, o fine fledgling of mine."

As they left the room to catch up to Daisuke and Hokuto waiting in the entry way, he heard Seishirou ask him quietly. _"What is it with you and your sister and bird terms?"_

The town of Tremere, as Daisuke introduced it, pointing out landmarks here and there mostly for Hokuto's benefit, was small, but well kept, with streets clean enough to walk barefoot and people who mostly smiled, acted pleasant, and avoided dark spaces if at all possible. Small shops lined the most populous street like gay little butterflies pinned to a corkboard, and the streetlamps burned brightly even in the morning sun.

It was a lovely facade of normality, was what Subaru felt of it, but he kept it locked behind a smile and attentive look to everything that Daisuke pointed out.

"That is where Kuroobaa Kazuhiko and Oruha run a cafe or lounge of sorts, called the Clover Tea Cafe. People can go in and listen to Oruha-sama sing and drink strictly non-alcoholic beverages. They live next door to us. I can hear their daughter Suu singing in the mornings with her mother." Daisuke pointed out a quaint little building with a four-leaf clover hanging from it. "And next door Tomoyo-san has a small clothing store."

None of them missed the sudden interest in Hokuto's eyes. Seishirou was the one to comment on it. "I take it that's where we're going next, right Hokuto-chan?"

"Oh hush you," she said, but there was no bite to it, she was staring intently enough at the building that little flecks of vampire gold were slipping into her eyes so that she could see farther. "Can we go in Daisuke-chan?" she tugged on his arm. "Please?"

Daisuke melted under her gaze and allowed himself to be dragged in. Subaru lagged behind with Seishirou, trying to not be angry that Daisuke was the one she was hauling around as opposed to Seishirou or him.

"A Tomoyo, eh?" Seishirou had his head slightly tilted as he stared at it with his golden eye. "I wonder if this one will recognize me for all my devilish behaviour..."

Subaru was pretty sure that was a joke. "What do you mean Seishirou-san?"

"Well..." he drawled with amusement dripping from his voice. "The Tomoyo of the country of Nihon told me to stop delaying when I knew I could find you. Through Hokuto-chan of course."

Subaru blinked at him. "You were following me without seeking help beyond the ability to cross the worlds?" He remembered Seishirou saying something of the kind when they finally appeared in the same world, but not that clearly.

The vampire shrugged. "I have my pride. If I couldn't find you on my own, I was failing. Besides," he added as he caught up Subaru's hand within his own, put it to his lips without even drawing them out of the middle of the street "You belong to me, you are mine. I will not let those who I do not approve of lay a single finger on you."

Subaru shivered, but not with fear or cold. Seishirou's single eye burned with amber fire, that color that was unchanged even when he called on his skills. He was so beautiful...

Hokuto slammed the door of the little shop open loud enough to startle both of them, though Seishirou covered it up quickly. "Will you two _stop_ dawdling? I've found a hat that's perfect for you Subaru! And I'm sure I can find something good for you too Sei-chan, but you _need _to come in_ now_!"

Seishirou sighed with the all the dramatics of a practiced actor. "When the sister calls, we must obey her every whim."

He didn't release Subaru's hand on their way to the store, and Subaru felt his face grow hot again to his dismay. This _really_ needed to stop happening every time Seishirou said something like that.

It was really getting quite tiring.

The inside of the building was full of cloth, both in bolts and sewn together to make sensible, but elaborate clothing. Hokuto had discovered the hat stand in the corner and had stuck something of a summer hat with rabbit ears poking out the top on her head.

She bounded over to Subaru the minute he got in with an artfully frayed top hat that she stuck on his head at an odd angle, leaving it almost falling off his head. "Hmm...I think it works, don't you Sei-chan?" she seemed less pleased with her idea than at first. "I mean, a top hat in perfect condition would look too off on him, but like _this_..." she tilted it to a different angle and scrutinized it.

Seishirou stared at him just as intensely and Subaru shivered under the weight of it. "I think most of the trouble you're having is that his clothes don't match well with any hat really. Not that they aren't good for him of their own merit."

He was _pretty_ sure that Seishirou's stare could be considered leering, then realized the bigger problem in his statement, even as Hokuto grabbed his arm to pull him away from the hats, "Hokuto-chan! I don't need new clothes!" he cried in vain, although not actually struggling. "I thought we were here for _you_!"

Hokuto paused for a moment and he thought he was home free, then regretted that thought as she winked at him. "I can accessorize myself all the time, even with only the one outfit. But you've been wearing that since we left Malkav!" she cast a disparaging glance at his clothes, the coat left at home and probably the only thing that wouldn't have been attacked anyway. "You look...well the outfit on you isn't _bad _I guess if I wanted to dress you in something so plain, but you need something with flair! Color! Style!"

Subaru sighed as Seishirou chuckled in the background and Daisuke sort of stared at them in utter bemusement. He should have known better, but too late. "Seishirou-san...help?" he asked without expecting any support.

Seishirou snorted and his suspicions were confirmed. "If it keeps your dear sister from assisting me in changing mine, I will happily watch her find the perfect outfit for you, since you'll look lovely in anything she approves of."

Daisuke choked as Subaru groaned. "Sei-chan...you're not getting out of this as well." Hokuto announced, Subaru hanging from one arm like a limp handbag. "I can_not_ understand how you think that a trench coat with all those buttons is appropriate to go world-hopping!"

Subaru pawed at her arm with her free hand. "Can we worry about _you _first? We don't exactly have the funds to play around all day!" he pleaded, hoping to spare Seishirou from the experience of her whirlwind of mayhem at having the opportunity to dress him in front of Daisuke and the store owner who appeared to have not actually materialized from the back of the store yet.

Hokuto took this point into consideration. "What's our budget limit Daisuke-chan?" she burst out to the startled young man.

It took him a moment to be composed enough to speak, caught under the weight of all of her energy and enthusiasm. "Uh, it's t-two hundred eros for the three of you for your whole stay, Nee-chan says. We're not, not rich and we can't afford to do more than that!" he stammered quickly, hoping to avoid offending her.

Hokuto put a finger to her lips, a classic Hokuto thinking pose. "Two hundred eros, being the currency, for our entire stay...it may be cheaper to buy plain stuff and accessorize it with ribbons and stuff like that, but it would look so _off._"

Seishirou sunk into the shadows with ease as the door at the back of the store clicked open and admitted a young woman with long black-violet hair tumbling down her back in unbound waves. "Good morning Kishuu-san." she greeted the boy as she lay her burden of brightly colored fabric on the counter top. "I usually don't see you in here unless it's with your sister so..." she trailed off as she caught glimpse of Subaru and Hokuto standing with two of her hats, Subaru about as resistant as your average bolt of cloth when subjected to his sister's whims, and a slow smile spread over her face. "Good morning to you two. May I ask what you are searching for? Perhaps I may be of assistance?"

Hokuto grinned. "You certainly may!" she tugged on the plain black skirt that she wore in disgust. "I am in need of clothes, both attractive and suitable to world-travelling where we don't know where we're landing! Also it needs to not be more than sixty-five eros or however much that is because I have two other people to fix their fashion sense!"

The woman laughed appreciatively, "I think I can help you with that. Ah, but I have not introduced myself yet!" she exclaimed. "I am Sakurazuka Tomoyo, owner of Peach Blossom, this store."

"_Sakurazuka_?" Seishirou laughed from the shadows. "Really?"

Tomoyo's cheerful smile dropped. "I'm quite sure you're not my onii-san, since he's dead and gone, but would you come out?"

"Why?" Seishirou stated it without the lift of tones to a question. "You're already sure I'm not him."

Her eyes were sad. "If you are him from another world, then I just want to know that I can say goodbye."

Subaru looked at his fledgling, practically hiding in the dark, confusion written all over his face. "Why would you want to do such a thing? I am not the one you want. I can't be your brother. I'm me."

And the shopkeeper smiled again. "He would have said the exact same thing if a strange woman had asked him that. I know he would have. Very well then, keep hiding." and her eyes took on a mysteriously silly glint. "And I will simply have your companions help me figure out what you should be wearing instead."

Hokuto cackled. "I _knew_ I would like you Tomoyo-chan!" she exclaimed, not bothering to check if it was alright for her to use the honorific. "Sei-chan needs all the help he can get with that! But first, can we fix Subaru? As nice as skin-tight looks on him, it is just _not_ right for world travelling. Not if he's travelling with me!"

Daisuke gaped in astonishment, probably at the comment that could easily be taken the wrong way. _'Thanks a lot Hokuto-chan, you've mentally traumatized the younger brother of our host.'_ Subaru thought defeatedly, giving in to the two women and their ideas of what he should be wearing.

Tomoyo grinned brightly. "Would you like to help me figure out what we will need to get everything together, and what your companions will need to wear instead?"

Subaru wasn't sure if he should be grateful that Hokuto let go of him, or annoyed that she hadn't warned him and he'd smacked into the floor hard. At least Daisuke had decided that she probably didn't mean the comment the way it had come out and was attempting to pull himself together.

Seishirou ghosted out of his corner as Subaru stood, wrapping an arm around him possessively. _"I foresee many interesting encounters on the wrong end of a needle if this conversation goes the way it's going."_ he whispered with much more than a slight tinge of amusement coloring his tone.

Subaru sighed and leaned into the touch, feeling the way that Seishirou's arm tightened around him. _"You have no idea."_

Daisuke looked very helpless over in his corner, watching the two women gaily talking about clothes that only someone with experience in designing would have been able to keep up with. Subaru knew that Daisuke had absolutely no idea what he'd gotten himself into.

He was pretty sure nobody except Hokuto did anyway.

* * *

><p>And at the risk of coming off as whiny, I know there's quite a few people reading this, and I'd appreciate some feedback, whether it's telling me how I can do this better, or what you're hoping to see coming up next, or just celebrating Hokuto's existence in Tsubasa. It seriously does help me write, to know that there are people who enjoy reading what I write.<p> 


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